Creator, Father, King #259

Peter replied, “I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism. In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right.”

WOULD YOU EVER EAT a sautéed iguana with roasted potatoes on the side? How about a nice, spicy mole rat stew? Would you ever sink your teeth into a juicy toad burger, with all the fixings?

Ewww. Neither would the apostle Peter.

In Acts 10, Peter received a vision of a large sheet descending to earth, holding all sorts of creatures—many of which were off-limits under the Old Testament’s strict dietary laws. Yet Peter heard a voice say, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.”

“No, Lord,” Peter objected. “I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure and unclean.”

Immediately, the voice responded, “Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.”

Just then, messengers from a Roman centurion named Cornelius arrived where Peter was staying. They asked him to accompany them to Cornelius’s house. When Peter arrived, Cornelius said God had told him to send for Peter and listen to his message. Peter connected the dots: God does not show spiritual favoritism. His marvelous salvation plan is for everyone (verses 13-29).

What’s It Mean?

Like all ancient Israelites, Peter had been raised to believe that the Jews were God’s chosen people thanks to God’s provision of the Mosaic law, the Temple, and the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants. They believed salvation was exclusively theirs and that any “unclean” Gentile (i.e., a non-Jew) had to perform various ceremonial rites (such as circumcision) and observe the law to become spiritually “clean” before the Lord.

But God powerfully showed Peter otherwise. His vision wasn’t merely about food laws. It pointed to a greater truth: anyone who trusts in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins can be saved.

God created all humans in his image (Genesis 1:26-27); therefore, he values everyone equally. God cares about our hearts, faith, and obedience—not our skin color or nationality.

God is not the God of America or any particular people group or ethnicity. He is the Lord God Almighty, ruler of heaven and earth. His Son’s blood “has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9), and one day, the beautifully diverse family of God will worship around his throne forever (Revelation 7:9-10).

Now What?

Do you view others as God views them? Read Ephesians 2:11–3:10 to better understand today’s truth.

Did You Know?

God’s plan always was to bring Gentiles to salvation (Hosea 1:10; Isaiah 42:6; Isaiah 49:6), but this wasn’t fully realized until the church age (Ephesians 3:1-10).